Rents Jump While Size Dwindles

After taking a price pause, rents jumped in September 2018 by +3.2% compared with rental prices in August. According to the CoreLogic Single Family Rent Index, the average rent of a single -family home in September was $1,420/month.

Affordable housing rents fared even more poorly. Low-end single-family rentals and properties with rents coming in at less than 75% of the median rental price increased +3.9% y/y.

Molly Boesel, principal economist with CoreLogic, said, “We’ve seen a slight uptick in prices over the few months, as strong employment growth continues. (The strength in rental prices) stems from the low-mid quarter of the market which has seen a monthly average growth of +3.2% since January 2018.”

Looking at both nation-wide and large- city rental markets underlines the extent of rental increases during the month of October on a more micro-level. Take a look at the most significant rental increases happening in 93% of ALL cities across the US, according to RENTCafe, a national apartment search website:

National Rental IncreasesLarge-City Increases

Odessa TX – +25.2% Phoenix AZ – +8%

Midland TX – +23.3% Las Vegas – +7.8%

Reno NV – +11.2% Jacksonville FL – +6.8%

Peoria AZ – +10.7% Los Angeles – +6.5%

Lancaster CA – +9.4% San Diego CA +6.3%

Data source: Yardi Matrix

Meanwhile, as rents climb, renters are paying more for less space. Also according to RENTCafe, the average size of an apartment in a new building is now 941 square feet, -5% smaller than the average size of an apartment 10 years ago. Studio apartments are even smaller…now -10% smaller at an average of 837 square feet.

Newly built studio units, just 5% of the rental market, have decreased to an average size of 514 square feet. One-bedroom apartments, 43% of the apartment market share, are down -4% over the last decade. Two bedroom units are just 0.5% smaller than they were 10 years ago.

Of the nation’s largest cities, Seattle has the smallest apartment units with an average size of 711 square feet. Manhattan and Chicago have the second and third smallest units behind Seattle.

Tallahassee boasts the largest apartments at an average of 1,038 square feet with Marietta GA and Columbia SC newly built apartments coming in second and third places size-wise.

Newly built apartments in California have seen the biggest size decreases over this last decade, losing an average of -12%. Apartments in both the Pacific Northwest and Northeast have shrunk -10%. The Midwest is the only place where apartment size has increased over the last decade, up by 1%.